An insider's view of what is really happening in the Harris County Criminal Courts

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

The Houston Bar Association Poll Results

On April 15th of this year, I wrote this post detailing why I believed that Judge Mike Anderson was a much better candidate for Harris County District Attorney than his opponent. I also detailed how Kristin Guiney, Joe Vinas, Ryan Patrick, and Renee Magee were the best candidates for Judge in their respective races. Yesterday, the Houston Bar Association released the results of its poll on the candidates' qualifications for office, which showed that I am not alone in my opinions.

If I did my math correctly (which is not a given, since I am an Aggie), 1720 members of the Houston Bar Association voted in the poll. Those who voted in the contested races were given the option of selecting one of four answers in response to a candidate's qualifications. Those options were: Not Rated, Not Qualified, Qualified, orWell Qualified. Given the fact that only lawyers who are members of the Houston Bar Association voted in the poll and that the majority of those members do not practice criminal law, it is not much of a surprise that the most commonly selected answer for the criminal races was "Not Rated."

This post is a breakdown of the percentages of each race by those who did feel that they knew the candidates well enough to rank their qualifications.

SUMMARY: To know Pat Lykos doesn't appear to mean that one loves Pat Lykos. While some Republican faithful may like Lykos the Candidate, Lykos the Lawyer does not foster much confidence. It is also worth noting that attorneys working for the Harris County District Attorney's Office have their membership to the Houston Bar Association paid for by the Office. Despite having over 200 of her own employees voting on her qualifications, Pat Lykos got dangerously close to a 50% "Not Qualified" vote.

SUMMARY: Ouch. As, I've pointed out before, Lloyd Oliver isn't a real candidate. He's been indicted numerous times and runs in every election. 88.1% of the lawyers voting recognize that. If it is any consolation to Mr. Oliver, more attorneys think that Pat Lykos isn't qualified (at least when it comes to raw numbers).

174th DISTRICT COURT (REPUBLICAN PRIMARY)

In the votes here, 1350 voters (78.5%) did not rank Joe Vinas and 1353 voters (78.7%) did not rank Robert Summerlin. In the percentages that did cast votes, the breakdown is:

SUMMARY: Patrick is a relatively young candidate for the bench, and I would imagine that would probably explain some attorneys having reservations about ranking him as "Well Qualified." For those of us who have worked with him, however, we know that he has a good head on his shoulders and will be a good judge. His age should not be a determining factor, especially in comparison to Mr. Benavides' lack of experience.

179th DISTRICT COURT (REPUBLICAN PRIMARY)

In the votes here, 1355 voters (78.8%) did not rank Kristin Guiney and 1225 voters (71.2%) did not rank Lana Shadwick. Of the percentages that did cast votes, the breakdown is:

SUMMARY: I think it is kind of amusing to see that almost the exact same number of attorneys who deem Shadwick to be "Well Qualified" find Guiney to be not qualified. Of course there are going to be hard-core partisan voters in all of these bar polls, but that type of mirroring indicates to me that only a die-hard Shadwick fan would pick her over Guiney. I cannot stress how much of a better candidate Kristin Guiney is than her opponent.

337th DISTRICT COURT (REPUBLICAN)

In the votes here, 1346 voters (78.2%) did not rank Renee Magee and 1223 voters (71.1%) did not rank Jim Barr. Of the percentages that did cast votes, the breakdown is:

12 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Murray,

The DA's race may not be as vitriolic as the one back in 2008; but it is still highly charged.

As I'm sure you recall, back in 2008 Kelly Siegler had an incredibly high number of votes casting her as unqualified yet I challenge any of your readers to objectively name a prosecutor current or past who is/was better qualified......the Dick DeGuerin and Pat Lykos crowd I'm sure would throw out unsubstantiated allegations and innuendo in protest; but that is precisely the point.

The Bar poll for the most part is a beauty contest which values an individual's popularity and political posture disproportionately to his/her actual qualifications.

To interpret the subjective character of the Bar poll as objective fact is more than a stretch. This Bar straw poll is perhaps more meaninful than the pep rally straw polls earlier simply because of the perceived legitimacy; but at the end of the day it is as controlling as the Houston Chronicle endorcement.

You are no doubt familiar with the "Dick Deguerin Qualification Principle":

-Dick Deguerin is the greatest criminal lawyer of all time (just ask Dick)-Dick DeGuerin only defends innocent people who the State has wrongfully accused (just ask Dick)-Kelly Siegler kicked Dick DeGueirin's ass 3 out of 3 times (you may not want to ask Dick about that).-Therefore, pursuant to the Dick DeGuerin Principle: Kelly Siegler must be a crooked unethical win at all costs prosecutor who is highly unqualified (how else could Mr. Dick defend his regular ass whoopin' by Ms. Siegler?).

I'd like to know why the Chron hasn't run this - to be thought of that highly "disqualified" by your peers speaks volumes. To know Pat is to know she is "unqualified" as a human being. Working with her was hell...not because of her "high standards" but because she's a bully and just plain mean all the time!

Everything is "easy" when you are prepared, talented and not afraid of risk.........hence the wisdom of the old saying: luck is when preparation meets opportunity. This is not a concept easily understood by excuse makers who play the victim card.

Kelly Siegler's murder re-enactment utilizing the blood stained death bed in a brightly lit sterile courtroom setting to convict Susan Wright of savagely butchering her husband would not be sexually provocative to a normal human being.

As to your judicial inference of implied partiality on the part of former prosecutors who become judges: are you seriously suggesting that prosecutors be banned from serving on the bench?

Further, your suggestion that Kelly Siegler has a reputation for not following the law is not supported by appellate review. Kelly Siegler chose NOT to dumb it down and try only whales that meet your approval.......and I'm glad that pisses you off. Kelly Siegler tried the tough cases that others were too timid to tee up. She never backed down when the cause was just........crooks were held accountable without regard to how high profile their defense counsel might be.

It is a sad reflection on our society when those who don't excel rationalize their personal failure by condemning the sacrifices and dedication of those who stand above the fray.....

Not following the law and misconduct are two different things. The reasons for the reversals are important. I was far from hyperventilating. You might want to issue that warning to Black Ink though. That is, unless his hyperventilating is OK just because he agrees with you.

sadly the bar poll is like a straw poll...it represents a small political ripple that is not scientifically nor actuality accurate of anything credible. The fact that in most races the pros on one side equal the cons of the other substantiates the bias. When you calculate that out of 10-12,000 members only a few hundred participate is an indication of the degree or credence that it carries. When a function only gets less than 7% of the total; then is is viewed as poppycock or fodder and carries no real significance.

About Me

I'm a Criminal Defense Attorney and a former Harris County prosecutor. I've been involved in Criminal Law since I was in college, and I've been practicing in Houston for over 11 years.
Most people never have to come down to the Harris County Criminal Justice Center unless they have jury duty. This blog is meant to give the Outsider an inside view.
These are just my opinions. The opinions of the Commenters are also just their opinions and I don't endorse them. But (within reason), I want everybody to be able to have a forum to say what they want to say.